Christopher Robin. (PG.)
Directed by Marc Forster.
Starring Ewan McGregor, Hayley Atwell, Bronte Carmichael, Mark Gatiss and the voice of Jim Cummings. 107 mins
Last year it was Goodbye Christopher Robin, the story of how the real CR grew up to become ambivalent about the world his father created around him. This year we are saying Hello Again Christopher Robin, with this fantasy about a grown-up CR has entirely shaken off his childhood chums. The film opens with a lovely sequence, partly animated in the style of the books, of CR going from childhood to manhood, slowly putting away his childish things as he becomes a man, goes off to war and returns to find love and start a family. It has real substance and leaves you prepared for heartbreak. What follows though is another walkthrough of the most irksome of modern cliché narrative; the workaholic who needs to reconnect with his family. If that breaks your heart, then it wasn't much of a heart to begin with and you shouldn't mourn the damage.
McGregor's grown up CR is working away in perhaps the only company in post-war London committed to downsizing and ignoring wife and child (Atwell and Carmichael.) Then Pooh reappears to bring back his inner Robin. If I were a purist I think I would object to seeing my beloved favourites being dragooned into performing in the boring post-80s cliché. But, although the script lacks magic and thrills, director Forster's approach wrings some emotion from the material. It doesn't have the bogus CGI glow of most fantasy films; you wouldn't call the look realistic but the colour scheme is relatively subdued and the landscape is often overcast and murky. Pooh, Piglet and the rest look like well worn cuddly toys that have seen better days. Pooh is voiced by Jim Cummings who has been playing the role in Disney cartoons since the 80s and now sounds oddly wizened and old.
Directed by Marc Forster.
Starring Ewan McGregor, Hayley Atwell, Bronte Carmichael, Mark Gatiss and the voice of Jim Cummings. 107 mins
Last year it was Goodbye Christopher Robin, the story of how the real CR grew up to become ambivalent about the world his father created around him. This year we are saying Hello Again Christopher Robin, with this fantasy about a grown-up CR has entirely shaken off his childhood chums. The film opens with a lovely sequence, partly animated in the style of the books, of CR going from childhood to manhood, slowly putting away his childish things as he becomes a man, goes off to war and returns to find love and start a family. It has real substance and leaves you prepared for heartbreak. What follows though is another walkthrough of the most irksome of modern cliché narrative; the workaholic who needs to reconnect with his family. If that breaks your heart, then it wasn't much of a heart to begin with and you shouldn't mourn the damage.
McGregor's grown up CR is working away in perhaps the only company in post-war London committed to downsizing and ignoring wife and child (Atwell and Carmichael.) Then Pooh reappears to bring back his inner Robin. If I were a purist I think I would object to seeing my beloved favourites being dragooned into performing in the boring post-80s cliché. But, although the script lacks magic and thrills, director Forster's approach wrings some emotion from the material. It doesn't have the bogus CGI glow of most fantasy films; you wouldn't call the look realistic but the colour scheme is relatively subdued and the landscape is often overcast and murky. Pooh, Piglet and the rest look like well worn cuddly toys that have seen better days. Pooh is voiced by Jim Cummings who has been playing the role in Disney cartoons since the 80s and now sounds oddly wizened and old.
